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Sunday, September 28, 2008

Greencation: Day 3

Yesterday was a long day, very long. I finally gave up around 8pm and begged to come back to the room. The kids were enjoying the night and weather was beautiful but my head was pounding so hard I felt like I had a percussion show going on in the right hemisphere of my brain.

Since we knew the weather would be warmest on Saturday we opted to do the outdoor activities that day. We got up and walked to Sears Tower. Half way there I realized I had left the memory card for the camera inside the laptop so we had one picture we could take on the internal memory of the camera; we had to make it a good one. I had to take and delete about 4 pictures before I got one with all the 3 kids looking forward. I will have to add that picture once we get home because I don't have the cable with us.

After the Sears Tower we walked back to the hotel to retrieve the camera card and sunglasses. I knew a headache was a certainty if we did not get my sunglasses. We jetted off on the subway to find a traditional Chicago pizza place. The kids thought the subway ride was uber cool and groaned when it was time to get off after only 3 stops.

We ate at Giordano's and it seems most other tourists think 2pm would be a great time to eat lunch, just as we did. While waiting, Matthew found the naked lady statue; J and I were placing bets on how quickly he would find the topless statue and it was quicker than both of us had thought. He climbed up and said "MOM, take my picture!" The gentleman next to him thought that was comical. The pizza was very good but so filling and heavy that we just wanted to go to bed afterwards, not walk another 4 hours. We fought this urge heavily but only because three people under 5' tall were ready to ride on the trolley.

We took the trolley out to Navy Pier and enjoyed a boat ride on Lake Michigan and a ride on the huge Ferris wheel. Matthew played comedian again when he jumped up on a wooden box and said "MOM, take my picture while I pretend to be a supermodel" while posing with one hand on his hip and one behind his head and pouty lips. A group of several adults cracked up laughing and we could still hear them laughing after we walked away. I did not get a picture of this; I simply grabbed my son by the waist and carted him off knowing these adults are wondering where my six year old son learned to pose like a supermodel. We'll send him to your party for entertainment, but we charge a steep price.

I had to take a picture of this concession stand, even if the two girls working thought I was a crazy, lunatic tourist. We have donuts (in fact, I had a tasty one for breakfast earlier in the day) and funnel cakes. Now, the one thing those two have in common is being a wad of dough dropped into a 400 degree vat of grease and then usually covered in something even more fat laden such as sugar or "fruit" topping. This concession stand doesn't sugar coat (ha, pun intended) the truth; you will be getting a paper basket full of nothing else but good 'ole Fried Dough. That just cracked me up.

We found a table at the end of the pier and enjoyed the evening for awhile and I got these pictures of my handsome boys and beautiful girl. We were going to try and stay for the fireworks but I couldn't last any later than 8pm.

We've seen more weddings this weekend than I usually see in half a year. We've seen a German wedding complete with fully dressed priests, a Chinese wedding complete with dancing dragons and an extremely wealthy wedding, complete with 49 BMWs, 38 Mercedes, and 52 Lexus'. OK, OK, I'm not sure that is the exact number but only because we hopped on the poor-man's trolley (FREE) and left Navy Pier before the procession ended. This wedding reception included security; complete with the secret service black suits and earpiece communication; it was very entertaining for us to people watch at this particular event.

We Adopted!

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Life around here is chaotic but eventually you grow to love the chaos and can't imagine life any other way.

We move. We move a lot and somehow I've made a home in 7 rental houses in 5 states within 9 years. Follow the math? We purchased our first home two years ago (another move!) and since raising three kids who are less than 4 years apart isn't enough of a challenge we decided to renovate most of the house shortly after moving in. Then we got started on our adoption process. We just simply can't sit still.

I have a wonderful husband who takes most of my stress away (or at least tries) and we have 4 great kids, with our last child being added to our family through the journey of adoption. It's loud, it's messy, it's chaotic and I wouldn't have it any other way.

I started this blog to share a little of our lives with those that enjoy following the chaos. Good luck.